00:00A new report alleges that Hong Kong has become a major hub for Iran to evade sanctions.
00:06The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation says Hong Kong-based firms have helped Iran to
00:10move oil, launder money, and acquire weapons components. The group says Hong Kong transshipment
00:16networks were tied to parts recovered from Iranian drones used in Ukraine. At least 95 Hong Kong
00:22entities have been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2020 for their links to Iran. Researchers say
00:27those measures have failed to stop the networks from expanding, and they're calling on Washington
00:31to impose further sanctions. Now, to find out how deep those links go, our reporter Lily Lamatina
00:39spoke to Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.
00:43Your report contains significant evidence that Hong Kong has been used as a key hub in Iran's
00:48sanctions evasions. How much do Hong Kong authorities know about this, and why hasn't more been done
00:52to stop it? The government is clearly aware of it because it has not taken any meaningful action to
00:58enforce even United Nations sanctions against Iran. The Hong Kong government has made it very clear that
01:05it will not in any way help unilateral American sanctions, but it hasn't even lived up to its
01:13responsibilities to enforce United Nations sanctions. I wouldn't say this is representative of
01:19the leading Hong Kong companies. This is mostly kind of the kind of in the weeds of the Hong Kong
01:27trading and financial system. But it's so easy to set up a company in Hong Kong. It's very easy to
01:34close
01:34one, too, that it's it's just easy for these people who are living in kind of the dark edges of
01:40the global
01:41trading and financial system to not only survive, but to thrive in Hong Kong.
01:46Now, why does Hong Kong in particular remain attractive compared to other financial hubs, for example, Dubai or
01:52Singapore? Hong Kong had a hundred and fifty six year legacy as a British colony and it had increasingly good
02:00corporate governance, especially in the I say the last ten or so years of British rule. And much of that
02:07transferred over
02:08after China took control of Hong Kong in nineteen ninety seven. But the last ten or fifteen years as China
02:17has become more
02:17authoritarian, Hong Kong authorities have looked the other way when people are engaged in dubious transactions. So Hong Kong has
02:26a
02:26funny mix of being very tied into the global financial system as a result of its more than a century
02:34of British
02:34colonialism. At the same time, I'd say gone to the dark side, become a kind of pirate entrepot, the wild
02:42wild east, if you will, as a
02:44result of Chinese communist complicity with authoritarian regimes like Iran, like Russia.
02:51Following the Trump's Xi meeting, you say the U.S. has tools it could have used to pressure China on
02:57Iran, including Hong Kong.
02:58How much leverage does Washington actually have and has it been used effectively?
03:02Trump has a lot of leverage, the obvious one being trade and economic. But he does not seem to have
03:09pushed the
03:11Chinese as hard as I thought he could. Obvious place to start would be Hong Kong and tell him to
03:17shut down the Hong Kong
03:18nexus of helping Iran sell oil and then launder the proceeds and helping helping Iran obtain critical weapons
03:28technology through transshipments. The Chinese are providing intelligence to the Iranians. They're continuing to buy
03:35Iranian oil. There is talk that they are looking at providing the Iranians with arms through a third country. So,
03:43I mean, these are
03:44all pretty provocative actions by a country that claims that it's neutral and wants the conflict to end. Hong Kong
03:51is part of that.
03:54That was Mark Clifford of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.
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